Dr. Smitha Radhakrishnan is LuElla LaMer Slaner Professor of Women's Studies and Professor of Sociology at Wellesley College. A lifelong Bharatanatyam dancer, Smitha founded NATyA Dance in Natick, Massachusetts in 2015 after three decades of training and performance. NATyA currently offers Bharatanatyam classes for all ages and supports NATyA Dance Collective, a collaborative Bharatanatyam ensemble group. Born and raised in the U.S., she has trained continuously with prominent Bharatanatyam teachers in the U.S. and India since age 5. She has performed in professional solo and group productions all over the United States. In South Africa, she has performed and taught with the Surialanga Dance Company of Durban. In 2003, she co-founded NATyA Dance Company with fellow dancer Vallari Shah. Over the next four years, they performed over 80 shows all over the California Bay Area, including four original productions. Since 2008, Smitha has been training in Bharatanatyam, contemporary dance forms, and Indian martial arts while performing with Navarasa Dance Theater. She currently serves on the Navarasa board and continues to train in Mysore style Bharatanatyam with Dr. Sindhoor.
